The Red Sox are looking to move one of their three catchers before Opening Day. Should the Phillies be interested in one of them?
By midseason last year, it was clear that the Phillies were not getting enough from the catcher position. They acquired All-Star Wilson Ramos from the Rays as a rental to provide an offensive boost, but they opted to let him walk in free agency.
Jorge Alfaro will be the team’s Opening Day catcher; that much is clear. The club remains high on his potential both offensively and defensively. However, they could stand to make an upgrade from backup Andrew Knapp, and the Red Sox may provide an option.
Boston president Dave Dombrowski told Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com that he expects to trade one of their three catchers, Blake Swihart, Christian Vazquez, and Sandy Leon, by Opening Day. Dombrowski said that the slow-moving free agency market for catchers has hindered his ability to make any deals.
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Swihart would be an intriguing option as a backup catcher. The Red Sox plan to use Swihart solely as a catcher this year, but he also played first, second, and third base as well as both corner outfield positions. He would fit right in for manager Gabe Kapler and his penchant for Swiss Army Knife players.
Swihart struggled offensively last year, but that could be chalked up to a lack of consistent playing time.
In 2015, his only other major-league season with a significant amount of at-bats, he had a .274/.319/.392 line, five home runs, and 31 runs batted in during 84 games.
Defense is not Swihart’s strong suit. In 154 innings behind the plate last year, had -1 defensive run saved, 0.7 framing runs, and -0.3 fielding runs above average. In 2015, when he racked up 688 innings behind the plate, he had -16 DRS, -1.9 framing runs, and -5.2 FRAA.
Vazquez hit just .207 with a .540 OPS and 42 wRC+. He fared much better in 2017 with a .290 average, .735 OPS, and 92 wRC+, but these numbers were outliers for his career so far.
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While Vazquez was strong pitiful at the plate last year, he was strong behind it. He has 31 defensive runs saved behind the plate during his career, although his total was zero in 2018. He caught 37% of opposing base stealers, third-most in the American League. His 8.3 FRAA was 15th-best among all catchers and his 9.0 framing runs were 12th-best.
Leon peaked in 2016 with a .310/.369/.476 line and 2.5 wins above replacement, but his offensive performance has dropped off since then. He had a .177/.232/.279 line and -0.9 wins above replacement last year. Leon was much better defensively with 12 defensive runs saved, 11.6 framing runs, and 11.7 FRAA.
Each of Boston’s catchers offers their own benefits and drawbacks. Personally, the Phillies should prefer someone with better defense to balance out Alfaro and Knapp’s defensive deficiencies. However, Vazquez and Leon’s poor offensive seasons are major red flags.